The Ancient Geography of India. I. The Buddhist Period, including the Campaigns of Alexander, and the Travels of Hwen-Thsang c6.s3.t35.2

c6.s3.t35.2

The new town of Râjagriha is said to have been built by King Srenika, otherwise called *Bimbisára*, the father of *Ajátasatru*, the contemporary of Buddha. Its foundation cannot therefore be placed later than 560 B.C. according to Buddhist chronology. In Hwen Thsang's time (A.D. 629–642), the outer walls had already become ruinous, but the inner walls were still standing and occupied a circuit of 20 *li* (3⅓ miles). This statement corresponds tolerably well with the measurements of my survey, which make the circuit of the ramparts somewhat less than 3 miles. Buchanan calls new Râjagriha an irregular pentagon of 12,000 yards in diameter. This is clearly a misprint for 1200 yards, which would give a circuit of 11,300 feet, or 2⅛ miles; but this was probably the interior measurement, which, according to my survey, is 13,000 feet. The plan of new Râjagriha I make out to be an irregular pentagon of one long side and four nearly equal sides, the whole circuit being 14,260 feet outside the ditches, or rather less than 3 miles.